Duke University Medical Center proposes to establish a laboratory for studying medical databases and their interaction with clinical investigation, teaching, and patient care. The goal of the laboratory is to develop new tools for the study of complex illness and to develop database systems suitable for actual use. The projects proposed will include investigation of large scale database design and how design is influenced by actual use, investigation of acquisition, representation and analysis of biological signals, development of appropriate biostatistical tools for accurately assessing trends and making comparisons, and investigation of communication structures, communication protocols, and functional distribution of database activities. These investigations will be linked directly to the Coronary Artery Disease dababase currently being developed at Duke.